Embodiments described herein relate to apparatuses and methods for a robotic arm cart for transporting, delivering, and securing robotic arms to, for example, a surgical table.
In surgical robotic systems, robotic arms can be coupled to a patient operating table. Once coupled, the robotic arms can assist with manipulating instruments based on commands from an operator. For example, in response to operator commands, a robotic arm having multiple degrees of freedom can move a surgical instrument in order to perform an operation on a patient. Robotic arms, however, may be sensitive to contact and easily damaged. When one or more robotic arms are loaded together on a cart, the cart may also be heavy and can pick up a substantial amount of momentum during transportation such that it may not be easy for a user to steer the cart to avoid objects and/or to slow down the cart when approaching the operating table. In such instances, if the robotic arm contacts the operating table or some other object at a high velocity, the robotic arm and/or the operating table may become damaged due shock or impact forces resulting from the contact. When a robotic arm becomes damaged, it is often difficult and costly to repair and may also cause significant delays in surgical operations. Thus, additional apparatuses and methods for protecting a robotic arm from damage during transport and/or attachment of the arm to an operating table are desirable.